1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermoelectric generator module, and more particularly, to such a thermoelectric generator module including nanofibers.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, thermoelectric effect means a reversible and direct energy conversion between heat and electricity. The thermoelectric effect is classified into the Peltier effect which is applied to a cooling field using a temperature difference between both ends of a material formed by a current applied from the outside, and the Seebeck effect which is applied to a power generation field using an electromotive force generated from a temperature difference between both ends of a material.
Thermoelectric cooling is a vibration-free and low-noise eco-friendly cooling technology which does not make use of a refrigerant gas causing environmental problems, and application areas can be widen to a general-purpose cooling field including a refrigerator, an air conditioner or the like through the development of a high-efficiency thermoelectric cooling material.
Also, in the case of a thermoelectric power generation technology employing the Seebeck effect, if a thermoelectric material is applied to heat dissipating equipment or a relevant section in an automobile engine, an industrial plant or the like, power generation can be performed by a temperature difference between both ends of the material. In spacecrafts for remote planets in which the use of a solar energy is impossible, such a thermoelectric power generation system is already in operation.
The thermoelectric generator module is a circuit in which p-type or n-type conductors or semiconductors are electrically connected with each other end to end so that current is caused to flow by means of a thermo-electromotive force generated when one side of the module is used as a hot source and the other side of the module is used as a cold source,
Currently, the development of a thermoelectric generator module using nanofibers is in progress to achieve the compactness of such a thermoelectric generator module. As an example of this technology, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2011-0061751 (hereinafter, referred to as ‘prior art 1’) discloses an invention which is directed to nanoparticles having a high electrical conductivity or a nanocrystalline inorganic material.
In addition, Korean Patent No. 1432835 (hereinafter, referred to as ‘prior art 2’) discloses a method for producing nanofibers by treating a fiber including a thermoelectric active material or a precursor compound of a thermoelectric active material.
However, the prior arts 1 and 2 entail a problem in that the manufacturing process is complicated, and there is a limitation in the manufacture of a large-capacity module and an increase in the performance of the thermoelectric device module, thus causing a problem in that the degree of freedom of design of the thermoelectric device module is decreased.